IC XV

[phil285]

Vanco Basou, cleric
Vanco readies his warhammer and takes his place in the marching order. "Lead on!"

[thirdkingdom]

Felmont 3, AC 1000
The Caves under the Forgotten City
9:40 am
4 turns elapsed

The adventurers continue, through the breach in the wall and down the tunnel, into darkness. Passing the turn-off leading towards the Room of Scalding Springs, they continue on towards the lair of the Ur-orcs. As they advance, their torchlight illuminates a grisly scene before them; four scorpions, each the size of large dogs, feast upon the body of some poor creature. As the light reaches them, the four arachnids turn their alien gaze upon the adventurers, raising their clawed forelegs like pugilists preparing for a fight, but do not advance towards the party.

[MonsterMash]

Thurgan, dwarf

"Best if we can avoid fighting these creatures with their poison. Can we see any way round or does a mage have a spell of slumber readied that may help us get them down before they can sting?"

[Atlictoatl]

Tev Meren, Fighter

What are the dimensions of the area we're in? Is there a place nearby where Tev and Thurgan can function as a shield wall and block scorpion access to the rest of the team?

[thirdkingdom]

Tev Meren, Fighter

What are the dimensions of the area we're in? Is there a place nearby where Tev and Thurgan can function as a shield wall and block scorpion access to the rest of the team?

You guys are still in one of the long, usually uninteresting connecting tunnels between lairs. It's from between ten and fifteen feet wide, with a curved walls and ceiling. The walls and ceiling bear some sign of having worked at some point in the distant past, and are largely free of stalagtites/mites/loose stones and boulders. The area where the scorpions are is wider than normal, so there are certainly nearby sections of tunnel that are at most 10' wide, and could be held by two adventurers in a line.

[Koren n'Rhys]

Quint Kacie
Eyeing the fearsome arthropods barring the tunnel, Quint calculates how efficacious his sleep spell would be against them.
"I expect my spell would only affect one, possibly two, of the things, but that would be one or two less stingers to face."

He stands tall and unleashes his arcane power against the quartet of scorpions.

[Alethan]

Rhys

Rhys waits for the spell to take effect. Then if any of the creatures remains awake, he fires at it (or one of them) with his longbow.

Bow, Long (Basic): +4 To Hit (+2 BAB, +2 DEX); 1d6 Damage; Range: 70/140/210

[phil285]

Not sure if Vanco would have line of sight with his sling from his position. If he does, he readies his sling. If not, he'll keep to his warhammer.

[thirdkingdom]

Not sure if Vanco would have line of sight with his sling from his position. If he does, he readies his sling. If not, he'll keep to his warhammer.

It's a ten foot corridor, so those in the back ranks have no line of sight.

[Atlictoatl]

Tev Meren, Fighter

In the middle of trying to organize them into a more defensible position, Quint fires off his spell and Rhys gets ready with his bow. Tev eschews his crossbow for his sword and board, doing his best to coordinate with Thurgan so that the two of them can work to keep the scorpions from greeting their comrades.

[Wyzard]

Severi stands firm, but reserves his own magic.

[phil285]

It's a ten foot corridor, so those in the back ranks have no line of sight.

Okay, it's wait and see for Vanco.

[thirdkingdom]

Surprise Round, sort of

Quint's fingers weave in and out in hypnotic patterns, and two of the giant scorpions slump to the the stone in a stupor. The other two do not appear to notice they are under attack, until Rhys' arrow drives deep into the abdomen of one. Then, both of the horrible hadogenes click their claws together with an awful grating sound, arc the stingers over their backs and scuttle forward to attack!

Since they are unintelligent animals and I rolled a "neutral" for the reaction roll, I figured you guys could essentially have a surprise round until they figured out you were going to attack. So, since this is a ten foot hallway, only Thurgan, Tev and Rhys can act directly, although everyone else is free to retreat, reposition themselves, etc.

[Alethan]

Rhys

Rhys drops his bow behind him and draws his sword, intent on finishing off the one he already wounded.

Dannedd Blaidd, Magical +3 Sword (Skilled) vs. Unarmed: +6 To Hit (+2 BAB, +1 Skilled level, +3 sword); 1d12+3 Damage; 1 Deflect

[Wyzard]

Severi stands ready with sword and shield, to fill the gap if one of the front line should fall.

[MonsterMash]

Thurgan, Dwarf

Thurgan pricks his thumb and activates his swords power.

Dex boosted to 18 for 4 rounds so +2 init modifier and AC drops to 0, not taking any chances with save or die

[Atlictoatl]

Tev Meren, Fighter

Tev slaps his sword against his shield and stands firm, ready to beat the snot out of a scorpion and defend himself against its stinger.

Tywyllwch, +1 sword vs unarmed +6 to hit (1d12+3/1d12+3 damage), Deflect 1, +0 disarm
Tywyllwch, +1 sword vs armed +7 to hit (1d12+3/1d12+3 damage), -2 AC vs 1, Deflect 1, +0 disarm

Tev will save his Deflect ability to use against stinger strikes.

[Koren n'Rhys]

Quint slumps slightly as the pent up arcane power rushes forth to great effect. With only one sleep left in reserve, he holds off on casting it for now, trusting the might of his companions against the remaining pair.

Assuming they move into line of sight, he readies his sling to pelt the things with lead.

[phil285]

Vanco Basou, cleric
Vanco stands ready with his warhammer, to either fight or pull a wounded comrade away.

[thirdkingdom]

Rounds Two through Four

Those in the back rows find themselves unable to act as Tev and Thurgan brace themselves against the oncoming scorpions. The two warriors in the front row form a wall of blurred steel as they repel attack after attack; Tev's skill at swordplay deflects two near hits; while Thurgan does not have the same practiced ease with a blade that Tev does, he to manages to remain unscathed. The two deal the scorpions several blows, but with little apparent effect. Finally, however, the scorpion engaged with Thurgan strikes like lightning with its stinger, and Thurgan feels a bite on his shoulder as the toughened spike pierces his armor. Within seconds, the doughty dwarf's vision begins to fade, and he collapses to the ground, dead. Thurgan, in an act of desperation, through up his shield, just in time to block what could have been a fatal blow. The stinger crashes against his shield with a discordant gonging, and the doughty dwarf feels his arm go numb from the force of the blow.

MM, you have the option of using the Shields Will be Splintered rule. Since you have a magical shield, it will not be destroyed, but will instead have one "plus" removed, becoming, in this case, non-magical. It will also only block the poison effect; Thurgan will still take damage (in this case, 4 hp). Let me know and I can retcon it.